“…Given the results presented here, this does not appear to be the case because the variance estimators are so biased as to be effectively meaningless. However, further work may correct these issues, and other approaches to RDS estimation and diagnostic [ 10 , 13 , 24 , 39 , 40 , 43 , 44 ] and chain referral sampling [ 11 , 42 , 45 – 47 ] are being developed. These approaches, combined with renewed attention to the issue of estimating sampling variance in RDS, should pave the way for more accurate sampling variance estimation and a renewed emphasis on collecting additional network data as part of the sampling process.…”